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- Thank God, I'm free.
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00:00:12,878 --> 00:00:15,664
I don't have to worry
about problem no more.
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00:00:15,664 --> 00:00:16,886
It's all over.
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00:00:16,886 --> 00:00:18,983
(laughing)
I'm so glad.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, man I feel good.
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Very glad.
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- [Newscaster] Shortly
after this photograph
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was taken at the funeral,
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deputies arrested their father,
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33 year old James Richardson for murder,
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he's serving a life term.
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- I think he's very guilty,
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I think he was proven guilty and I think,
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I know that the finding of the trial court
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00:00:57,306 --> 00:00:59,731
was sustained unanimously
by the Supreme Court
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and I don't know why
people won't accept it.
18
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- It was very hard for men to suffer
19
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and knowing that you're innocent
20
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and losing everything you've got.
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What will be the next step for me?
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- [Peter] There are many
pieces to this puzzle.
23
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(cheering)
24
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- [James] Richardson released:
"I feel fine.", he said.
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That is great.
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- [Peter] There were many
lies, many omissions.
27
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Hidden depositions and documents.
28
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They were all in different places
29
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and all in different people's heads.
30
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- When people leave
jail, it is usually said
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that they have paid their debt to society,
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but in this case, how on earth
33
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can society pay its debt
to James Richardson,
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for 20 years of anguish and pain?
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- [Geraldine] Sometimes the system works
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and sometimes it is flawed and so,
37
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I think in the case of
James Joseph Richardson,
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it was flawed.
39
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(gentle instrumental music)
40
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(upbeat instrumental music)
41
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- James Richardson was
a typical migrant worker
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of those days.
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- He worked in the
groves, he and his wife,
44
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both picked tangerines,
oranges, you name it.
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That's what they did to survive.
46
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- [Peter] The entire citrus industry was
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filled with migrant workers.
48
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- [Tim] At the time this
was 1967 in Arcadia.
49
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- Those small towns back in those days
50
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were just like the classic small towns
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that you hear about in Alabama and Texas,
52
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and these other places where
people were getting lynched
53
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and where they had their own laws.
54
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He was a black man, married
to Annie May Richardson,
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they had seven children.
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- [Tim] Some of em were Annie May's
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and they had James Junior.
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- He seemed to be just
a quiet simple person.
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- The whole thing happened one day,
60
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I think it was something
on in October, in 1967.
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- [Peter] It was October 25th,
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it was like every other morning.
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They left early, he and his wife,
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to jump on a migrant bus
that took them way out
65
00:04:05,232 --> 00:04:07,232
into the fields to pick.
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00:04:08,990 --> 00:04:12,640
- [James] It was about 14 miles from town.
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- [Peter] Before they left,
just like every morning,
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the mother would leave the
breakfast for the children.
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- [Tim] At that time the children
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were fed by the babysitter,
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the lady that lived next door
in the duplex, Betsy Rees.
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- [Peter] The babysitter,
because there were two children
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that were too young to go to school.
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- We trusted her, because
she had some children,
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we were right next door to one another.
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- And Betsy Rees would feed them
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and sometimes she had
her own grandchildren,
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would eat, the families
would eat together.
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That day, they did not.
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- The babysitter prepared it, fried it,
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did whatever they do to it
and served it to the children.
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All seven of the children ate it,
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five of them left and walked to school.
84
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- And they started to,
basically, foam at the mouth.
85
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- If you can imagine the scene,
think of a movie like this,
86
00:05:01,917 --> 00:05:03,859
where in five different rooms,
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00:05:03,859 --> 00:05:06,398
teachers are running
around carrying a child,
88
00:05:06,398 --> 00:05:08,207
like, what's going on, what's going on?
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They figured, oh my god,
what about the kids at home?
90
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- The teachers took action
and they went to the house
91
00:05:13,878 --> 00:05:15,137
because they knew they
had younger siblings
92
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that weren't of school age
93
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and those children were also
found in the same condition.
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- They rushed over to the
home and there's Betsy Rees
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holding one dead kid in her arms
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and the other kid"s lying
on the ground convulsing.
97
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Word was sent out to the field.
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- They took our sacks and things
99
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and threw them up on the truck.
100
00:05:37,996 --> 00:05:40,829
- At that time, James
and of course, Annie May
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were called back and they
were taken to the hospital.
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- And they brought
Richardson and his wife in,
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would not tell them what was going on,
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took them right into the hospital
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and then into the chapel,
made them start praying,
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even before they told them like,
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what's going on, where are my kids?
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They wouldn't even answer the question.
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- They called the minister
and he took us into the room
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and he said, "Let us pray."
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I said, "Pray for what?"
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And then he took the sheriff
and said, "You tell him."
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And the sheriff said, no, "I'm
gonna let y'all tell him."
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The man spoke out and said,
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"James, all your children are dead."
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(gentle instrumental music)
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- People in the town got
together, the churches,
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whatever, and raised enough
money to bury these kids.
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They had a huge funeral at the gymnasium,
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where all seven caskets
were laid out and of course,
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those pictures went nationwide,
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went all over the world.
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You know, seven caskets lined up,
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00:07:05,868 --> 00:07:08,812
that's a pretty dramatic photo.
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00:07:08,812 --> 00:07:11,812
And they are in a certain
section of the Arcadia,
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old Arcadia graveyard,
there's a plot there
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with the seven graves.
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- At that time the police
weren't sure what happened,
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but poisoning was suspected,
130
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based on the foaming at the
mouth, things like that.
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The smell of Parathion was
very heavy in the house,
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those were the sheriff's words.
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- [Newscaster] What killed them?
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Parathion, an extremely
poisonous insecticide.
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Parathion powder, lots of it,
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was mixed into their last meal.
137
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- Well, Parathion was a
commonly used insecticide,
138
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used back in those days, it
was eventually banned from use.
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It was horrible, just a little tiny,
140
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less than half a spoonful,
would make you violently sick,
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any more than that and it would kill you.
142
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- When they brought them
in through the door,
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little things, just
hands and arms drawn up,
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just gripping, foaming at the mouth.
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They couldn't cry out in
anguish, real loud or nothing,
146
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because with your body
contracting like it was,
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you just can't do it.
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- It's a horrible, horrible thing,
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those kids died a horrible death.
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And the sheriff went in there
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and they ransacked the house,
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looking for anything they could.
153
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- [James] They couldn't find nothin'.
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The stuff wasn't even there.
155
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- They couldn't find it, but
they found a business card
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from an insurance agent and
on the back of the card,
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it was $500 upon the death of each child.
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- It took off from there,
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where he became a suspect
because an insurance man
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just happened to be walking
through the neighborhood
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the night before, saw the light on
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and went to see if he
could sell some insurance.
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- They used that card
and a few other things,
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a bag of parathion
magically appeared in a shed
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behind his house the day after.
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- Betsy Rees and Charlie,
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I can't remember his last name, he was
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I guess the, kind of the town drunk,
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somehow they found a bag
of Parathion in the shed,
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that the sheriff had
already searched twice.
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That's what the sheriff basically used,
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saying that he had bought
insurance the night before
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and then poisoned his kids.
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That was Frank Kline, was the sheriff.
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He actually got an award
from Detective Magazine
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for his work on the case and
I kind of find that ironic,
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since I don't think he
really did that much
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of an investigation.
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- [Newscaster] Richardson
was first arrested
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on a child neglect charge,
immediately after the deaths,
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but three months later in January of '68,
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the state still did not
have a solid murder case.
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- James Richardson was in jail originally
184
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a short amount of time, it
might have been two weeks
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before he was granted bail.
186
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So after he left jail they went in there
187
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and talked to all the prisoners,
188
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saying, did this guy say anything?
189
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And they ran into four or five guys
190
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that claimed that he had made statements
191
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to the effect of, oh I'm just trying,
192
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I've got to get out from under all this,
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that he was having marital trouble.
194
00:10:28,650 --> 00:10:31,583
- This guy, Ernell Washington,
195
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he was telling the sheriff,
196
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you scratch my back and
I'll scratch your back
197
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and one thing from the other.
198
00:10:40,952 --> 00:10:45,067
- [Peter] Even some of
these, he even gave,
199
00:10:45,067 --> 00:10:47,810
claimed that James Richardson
told him how he did it,
200
00:10:47,810 --> 00:10:50,057
that he put the Parathion in,
201
00:10:50,057 --> 00:10:54,185
it was already in the pot
before she started to cook it.
202
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- Without those statements,
those jailhouse confessions,
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he would had a weak case.
204
00:10:58,667 --> 00:11:00,291
- And once that happened, of course,
205
00:11:00,291 --> 00:11:04,208
they went and picked him
up and put him in jail
206
00:11:07,424 --> 00:11:12,070
and then they prepared their
case, over a couple months.
207
00:11:12,070 --> 00:11:15,820
- Subsequently he was
put through the system.
208
00:11:17,531 --> 00:11:19,811
A lawyer from Daytona
Beach, John Robinson,
209
00:11:19,811 --> 00:11:21,034
agreed to represent him.
210
00:11:21,034 --> 00:11:24,985
- They gave him a couple of
names for a public defender
211
00:11:24,985 --> 00:11:27,054
and he picked John Robinson
212
00:11:27,054 --> 00:11:28,732
'cause his name was close to Richardson.
213
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That's all he knew about it.
214
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They decided that that he should
215
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be charged with first degree murder,
216
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which meant death penalty
and then they had a trial.
217
00:11:42,943 --> 00:11:44,616
- [Tim] Frank Shaub was the prosecutor.
218
00:11:44,616 --> 00:11:46,799
He had recently been the prosecutor
219
00:11:46,799 --> 00:11:48,984
in the Carl Coppolino case in Tampa.
220
00:11:48,984 --> 00:11:51,494
- [Peter] And so he was
well known for that.
221
00:11:51,494 --> 00:11:53,332
He beat F. Lee Bailey in that case,
222
00:11:53,332 --> 00:11:55,423
that's why I say Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig,
223
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whatever, he was, he was the man.
224
00:11:58,413 --> 00:12:00,653
- This was the next big case that came up
225
00:12:00,653 --> 00:12:04,522
and he was the prosecutor
for that section and yes,
226
00:12:04,522 --> 00:12:07,535
he was interested in finding
the killer of seven children.
227
00:12:07,535 --> 00:12:09,820
- [Newscaster] The trial began May 27th.
228
00:12:09,820 --> 00:12:12,873
Jurors heard of Richardson's
alleged confession.
229
00:12:12,873 --> 00:12:16,749
- And these guys were all given
days off of their sentences,
230
00:12:16,749 --> 00:12:18,619
that's part of the record,
231
00:12:18,619 --> 00:12:22,106
in return for their
testimony against Richardson.
232
00:12:22,106 --> 00:12:23,620
- [Interviewee] These two out
here, Cunningham and Weaver,
233
00:12:23,620 --> 00:12:26,178
would do anything the
sheriff would ask them to do.
234
00:12:26,178 --> 00:12:27,234
- [Interviewer] Even lie?
235
00:12:27,234 --> 00:12:28,785
- Even lie.
236
00:12:28,785 --> 00:12:29,959
They did.
237
00:12:29,959 --> 00:12:32,355
- What happens with a
jailhouse snitch ordinarily is
238
00:12:32,355 --> 00:12:35,457
that they're given some
kind of a deal, you know.
239
00:12:35,457 --> 00:12:39,371
Certainly that deal should
be made known to a jury,
240
00:12:39,371 --> 00:12:42,401
but sometimes those deals are hidden.
241
00:12:42,401 --> 00:12:45,547
- This witness, James Ernell Washington,
242
00:12:45,547 --> 00:12:46,738
they come down, take a statement
243
00:12:46,738 --> 00:12:49,378
and he gets some deal cut, he gets out.
244
00:12:49,378 --> 00:12:53,597
But even in that statement,
he tells them for pages,
245
00:12:53,597 --> 00:12:56,479
oh yeah, I asked Richardson,
who he think did it,
246
00:12:56,479 --> 00:13:00,039
oh, I think the babysitter did it.
247
00:13:00,039 --> 00:13:01,609
- She was no more a suspect than you.
248
00:13:01,609 --> 00:13:03,597
I mean, what do we have
to suspect her for?
249
00:13:03,597 --> 00:13:05,679
- Even more interesting
is the fact that Mrs. Rees
250
00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:08,307
was once accused of
poisoning one of her husbands
251
00:13:08,307 --> 00:13:10,918
and served prison time
for murdering another.
252
00:13:10,918 --> 00:13:13,158
She was also reportedly mad
at the Richardson family
253
00:13:13,158 --> 00:13:15,181
because another husband left her
254
00:13:15,181 --> 00:13:16,930
for one of the Richardson cousins.
255
00:13:16,930 --> 00:13:19,770
- Well, in her background,
yeah, that's the crazy thing,
256
00:13:19,770 --> 00:13:22,027
there's a husband that died of poisoning,
257
00:13:22,027 --> 00:13:24,033
but she was never convicted of it.
258
00:13:24,033 --> 00:13:25,866
And then a couple years later,
259
00:13:25,866 --> 00:13:28,619
a second husband died,
she shot him to death.
260
00:13:28,619 --> 00:13:31,988
And I guess maybe it must
have stunned James Richardson,
261
00:13:31,988 --> 00:13:34,505
because part of the
issue in this trial was
262
00:13:34,505 --> 00:13:37,458
that he never seemed to show any feeling
263
00:13:37,458 --> 00:13:39,626
about what happened.
264
00:13:39,626 --> 00:13:41,642
He didn't sit there screaming and crying
265
00:13:41,642 --> 00:13:45,392
and pounding the wall, he seemed calm
266
00:13:45,392 --> 00:13:47,362
that seemed odd to everybody, you know.
267
00:13:47,362 --> 00:13:49,482
- [Newscaster] Four days of testimony.
268
00:13:49,482 --> 00:13:51,194
Reporters from national publications
269
00:13:51,194 --> 00:13:54,777
and TV networks gave the
trial nationwide notoriety.
270
00:13:54,777 --> 00:13:57,320
- It wasn't that long,
it wasn't even a week.
271
00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,442
The jury, after that,
once it was over with,
272
00:14:00,442 --> 00:14:04,609
the jury, I believe, only
deliberated for two hours.
273
00:14:06,057 --> 00:14:07,790
They came back with a guilty verdict
274
00:14:07,790 --> 00:14:10,010
and he was sentenced to death.
275
00:14:10,010 --> 00:14:12,677
- I wondered what was happening.
276
00:14:16,962 --> 00:14:18,295
It was just bad.
277
00:14:21,206 --> 00:14:22,860
- But the fact that he was black,
278
00:14:22,860 --> 00:14:25,723
can't deny that he had no friends,
279
00:14:25,723 --> 00:14:26,556
he was in a court room,
280
00:14:26,556 --> 00:14:28,506
he was the only black
man in the court room.
281
00:14:28,506 --> 00:14:32,194
- It was twelve white
jurors and a white judge.
282
00:14:32,194 --> 00:14:36,748
And this was a poor
African-American fruit picker
283
00:14:36,748 --> 00:14:38,256
who was the defendant.
284
00:14:38,256 --> 00:14:39,373
And seven children were dead
285
00:14:39,373 --> 00:14:42,696
and somebody had to answer for that.
286
00:14:42,696 --> 00:14:45,446
- I don't think he had
any confidence at all.
287
00:14:45,446 --> 00:14:49,613
He fell into that black hole,
that's it for me, you know.
288
00:14:55,057 --> 00:14:56,694
- He was given the death sentence
289
00:14:56,694 --> 00:14:59,749
he was sent to Raiford
prison, North Florida,
290
00:14:59,749 --> 00:15:02,507
where he spent from '68 to '73,
291
00:15:02,507 --> 00:15:06,351
if my memory's correct, on death row.
292
00:15:06,351 --> 00:15:07,851
- That was back in the days on death row,
293
00:15:07,851 --> 00:15:09,892
when they gave every
prisoner that came in,
294
00:15:09,892 --> 00:15:11,561
was given a dry run to show em
295
00:15:11,561 --> 00:15:14,042
what was going to happen someday.
296
00:15:14,042 --> 00:15:16,139
- [Tim] I believe that was
part of the practice was,
297
00:15:16,139 --> 00:15:19,972
you know, it was used
to keep the inmate calm,
298
00:15:20,966 --> 00:15:23,130
to try and keep them calm so
299
00:15:23,130 --> 00:15:24,602
that they understood
what was going to happen
300
00:15:24,602 --> 00:15:27,222
and it wasn't a surprise to them.
301
00:15:27,222 --> 00:15:29,291
- [Man] About five o'clock in the morning,
302
00:15:29,291 --> 00:15:31,581
he's brought out, where he is shaved,
303
00:15:31,581 --> 00:15:34,576
his head head is shaved
and his right leg is shaved
304
00:15:34,576 --> 00:15:37,028
and then he is brought through this door,
305
00:15:37,028 --> 00:15:38,205
which proceeds down a corridor,
306
00:15:38,205 --> 00:15:41,758
which goes to where the electric chair is.
307
00:15:41,758 --> 00:15:44,008
- I remember his telling us
308
00:15:45,314 --> 00:15:49,776
that they had gone so
far as to shave his head,
309
00:15:49,776 --> 00:15:51,603
in preparation for it.
310
00:15:51,603 --> 00:15:54,754
- They took the machine,
running up and down my hand,
311
00:15:54,754 --> 00:15:57,083
and they put it all up and down here
312
00:15:57,083 --> 00:15:59,500
and under my arms and my leg.
313
00:16:00,592 --> 00:16:03,132
- [Man] He's brought in
and put into the chair
314
00:16:03,132 --> 00:16:06,372
and the strap are placed around his chest
315
00:16:06,372 --> 00:16:09,597
and around his lap and on his arms.
316
00:16:09,597 --> 00:16:10,430
- [Peter] So they brought him in there,
317
00:16:10,430 --> 00:16:12,214
shaved his head, hooked him up as if
318
00:16:12,214 --> 00:16:14,309
it was really going to
happen and then turned it off
319
00:16:14,309 --> 00:16:16,976
and let him go back to his cell.
320
00:16:22,180 --> 00:16:23,576
- The Supreme Court declared
321
00:16:23,576 --> 00:16:26,247
the death penalty unconstitutional today
322
00:16:26,247 --> 00:16:28,076
and spared the lives of 600 men
323
00:16:28,076 --> 00:16:30,324
in death row cells across the country.
324
00:16:30,324 --> 00:16:31,564
But the divergent opinions
325
00:16:31,564 --> 00:16:33,786
offered by the justices
leave some questions
326
00:16:33,786 --> 00:16:36,494
about capital punishment still unanswered.
327
00:16:36,494 --> 00:16:37,473
- He said the death penalty
328
00:16:37,473 --> 00:16:41,044
has been imposed disproportionately
on minority groups.
329
00:16:41,044 --> 00:16:42,569
More than half of the 600 people
330
00:16:42,569 --> 00:16:45,076
now under death sentence are black.
331
00:16:45,076 --> 00:16:47,690
- But for the U.S. Supreme
Court in Furman versus Georgia,
332
00:16:47,690 --> 00:16:51,832
overturning everybody's death
penalty in the United States,
333
00:16:51,832 --> 00:16:54,691
Mr. Richardson would have been executed.
334
00:16:54,691 --> 00:16:57,430
- All the death row inmates
335
00:16:57,430 --> 00:17:01,673
were then put into life
sentences, 25 years
336
00:17:01,673 --> 00:17:04,673
and also the ability to have parole.
337
00:17:06,383 --> 00:17:08,966
Basically, he was denied parole
338
00:17:10,713 --> 00:17:14,342
because he didn't show any remorse,
339
00:17:14,342 --> 00:17:16,617
which, if he didn't do it,
how could he have remorse
340
00:17:16,617 --> 00:17:18,094
for something he didn't do, you know?
341
00:17:18,094 --> 00:17:22,011
I don't think he was
capable of being an actor.
342
00:17:23,150 --> 00:17:26,558
- It very hard for a man,
to suffer and knowing
343
00:17:26,558 --> 00:17:30,725
that you're innocent and
losing everything you've got.
344
00:17:32,844 --> 00:17:35,677
What will be the next step for me?
345
00:17:37,127 --> 00:17:39,384
- [Peter] Although we
talked to experts in grief
346
00:17:39,384 --> 00:17:41,333
at the University of
Miami and other places
347
00:17:41,333 --> 00:17:42,813
that told us within different ways,
348
00:17:42,813 --> 00:17:43,928
the worse the tragedy is,
349
00:17:43,928 --> 00:17:47,230
that his reaction was not uncommon.
350
00:17:47,230 --> 00:17:48,960
- And I believe Frank Schaub,
351
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,272
the prosecutor, was always there also,
352
00:17:51,272 --> 00:17:52,251
because you have to remember
353
00:17:52,251 --> 00:17:56,988
that James was only convicted
of the oldest daughter's death
354
00:17:56,988 --> 00:18:00,323
and supposedly Frank Schaub had said,
355
00:18:00,323 --> 00:18:01,883
or was quoted as saying,
356
00:18:01,883 --> 00:18:03,456
"If we don't get him on the first one,
357
00:18:03,456 --> 00:18:06,217
"well, we got six more tries."
358
00:18:06,217 --> 00:18:09,137
- He made it known to
Richardson that he would,
359
00:18:09,137 --> 00:18:10,065
the minute he walked out,
360
00:18:10,065 --> 00:18:12,657
he would charge him with
murder for the other child
361
00:18:12,657 --> 00:18:15,547
and we'll do the whole thing over again.
362
00:18:15,547 --> 00:18:17,851
- [Tim] That was kind
of the thought process,
363
00:18:17,851 --> 00:18:19,768
I believe, at the time.
364
00:18:20,999 --> 00:18:23,241
- But see, he had to fight
it because his reputation
365
00:18:23,241 --> 00:18:24,969
and his whole sterling career,
366
00:18:24,969 --> 00:18:28,679
the man that beat F. Lee Bailey, you know,
367
00:18:28,679 --> 00:18:29,857
back then that was a big deal,
368
00:18:29,857 --> 00:18:34,151
especially in little
Arcadia, it was on the line.
369
00:18:34,151 --> 00:18:35,903
- And Frank Schaub, I believe that too,
370
00:18:35,903 --> 00:18:40,438
he believed in his heart
that he had the right guy.
371
00:18:40,438 --> 00:18:43,468
Why else would he go
attend parole hearings?
372
00:18:43,468 --> 00:18:47,303
To make sure that he stayed in prison.
373
00:18:47,303 --> 00:18:49,935
- I think he's very guilty,
I think he was proven guilty.
374
00:18:49,935 --> 00:18:52,473
The finding of the trial court
375
00:18:52,473 --> 00:18:54,698
was sustained unanimously
by the Supreme Court
376
00:18:54,698 --> 00:18:58,209
and I don't know why
people won't accept it.
377
00:18:58,209 --> 00:19:01,653
- It's very hard to explain to you
378
00:19:01,653 --> 00:19:04,653
what was it like to suffer with pain
379
00:19:06,511 --> 00:19:11,410
running up and down my
spine, all night, all day.
380
00:19:11,410 --> 00:19:14,910
Wondering what's going to take place next.
381
00:19:15,947 --> 00:19:18,368
- [Tim] He then moved
through the prison system,
382
00:19:18,368 --> 00:19:20,770
located at different
facilities, Marion Correctional,
383
00:19:20,770 --> 00:19:22,389
I believe was one of them.
384
00:19:22,389 --> 00:19:24,073
He ended up at Tomoka Correctional
385
00:19:24,073 --> 00:19:25,193
in Daytona Beach, Florida,
386
00:19:25,193 --> 00:19:27,834
which is like a
medium-security type prison,
387
00:19:27,834 --> 00:19:30,572
which is where he earned his GED,
388
00:19:30,572 --> 00:19:34,072
he was very active in the prison ministry.
389
00:19:35,267 --> 00:19:37,477
- [Peter] And over the
years, once in a while,
390
00:19:37,477 --> 00:19:39,612
somebody would mention the
case, there'd be an anniversary,
391
00:19:39,612 --> 00:19:41,459
there'd be a little story.
392
00:19:41,459 --> 00:19:43,381
There was nothing going on.
393
00:19:43,381 --> 00:19:45,964
(wind howling)
394
00:19:47,063 --> 00:19:50,480
- I just don't know what to say about it.
395
00:19:52,968 --> 00:19:57,135
But I'm still hoping,
someday, that I will be free.
396
00:19:59,713 --> 00:20:04,303
And God enables me to
go and start a new life.
397
00:20:04,303 --> 00:20:07,220
- And it was in, I think it was '88
398
00:20:11,251 --> 00:20:13,653
- [Announcer] Tampa, St. Petersburg.
399
00:20:13,653 --> 00:20:16,459
This is Pulse 13: Night Beat,
400
00:20:16,459 --> 00:20:20,209
Tampa Bay's most-watched
night-time newscast.
401
00:20:22,167 --> 00:20:23,865
- More than 20 years ago,
402
00:20:23,865 --> 00:20:26,506
a black man, James Joseph Richardson,
403
00:20:26,506 --> 00:20:28,585
was convicted of poisoning to death
404
00:20:28,585 --> 00:20:31,171
his seven children in Arcadia.
405
00:20:31,171 --> 00:20:33,148
His trial drew national attention,
406
00:20:33,148 --> 00:20:35,172
many people claiming he was railroaded
407
00:20:35,172 --> 00:20:36,564
into that death sentence.
408
00:20:36,564 --> 00:20:38,191
There is now new evidence
409
00:20:38,191 --> 00:20:41,945
that may show James
Richardson is innocent.
410
00:20:41,945 --> 00:20:43,559
- [Newscaster] During the 1968 trial,
411
00:20:43,559 --> 00:20:46,391
prosecutors said Richardson
gave a powerful insecticide
412
00:20:46,391 --> 00:20:50,233
to his six girls and one boy
in order to collect insurance.
413
00:20:50,233 --> 00:20:52,521
But attorneys now say the
original prosecutor knew
414
00:20:52,521 --> 00:20:54,641
the children were never insured
415
00:20:54,641 --> 00:20:56,158
and that a former babysitter,
416
00:20:56,158 --> 00:20:58,089
now confined to this nursing home,
417
00:20:58,089 --> 00:21:01,422
has confessed to poisoning the children.
418
00:21:02,618 --> 00:21:04,484
- Betsy Rees, the next door neighbor,
419
00:21:04,484 --> 00:21:06,123
who I believe probably was the one
420
00:21:06,123 --> 00:21:08,415
who put the poison in there,
421
00:21:08,415 --> 00:21:11,515
but she's now in a nursing home,
422
00:21:11,515 --> 00:21:14,734
early signs of dementia, Alzheimer's,
423
00:21:14,734 --> 00:21:17,523
but this young lady says, "I remember her
424
00:21:17,523 --> 00:21:19,003
"because of that case."
425
00:21:19,003 --> 00:21:22,753
And now she sits there
in the chair, rocking,
426
00:21:24,128 --> 00:21:27,711
"I killed those kids,
I killed those kids."
427
00:21:30,332 --> 00:21:31,165
- And I will ask her,
428
00:21:31,165 --> 00:21:33,889
I say "Betsy, did you
kill those children?"
429
00:21:33,889 --> 00:21:35,670
and she say, "Yeah, I did it."
430
00:21:35,670 --> 00:21:37,853
and I said, "Why?"
431
00:21:37,853 --> 00:21:39,256
and then she would bust out into tears
432
00:21:39,256 --> 00:21:40,619
and she would start crying.
433
00:21:40,619 --> 00:21:42,483
- [Interviewer] How do
you know that she knew
434
00:21:42,483 --> 00:21:43,792
what you were talking about?
435
00:21:43,792 --> 00:21:46,280
- A person like that wasn't incompetent,
436
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,558
so I felt like she knew
what she was saying.
437
00:21:48,558 --> 00:21:49,987
- Now that was it, I was like amazed.
438
00:21:49,987 --> 00:21:53,404
I got back, did all the research I could.
439
00:21:54,946 --> 00:21:57,561
The hook of the story was the
lady making that statement,
440
00:21:57,561 --> 00:21:59,799
it gives you an excuse, a lead,
441
00:21:59,799 --> 00:22:01,699
to go in and do a recap of the story.
442
00:22:01,699 --> 00:22:03,638
Just a recap of what happened.
443
00:22:03,638 --> 00:22:05,248
It is a very interesting story
444
00:22:05,248 --> 00:22:07,066
whether the man's guilty or not,
445
00:22:07,066 --> 00:22:11,367
especially if you can find
out, why did he do it?
446
00:22:11,367 --> 00:22:13,359
We published a huge story in
447
00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,276
the Miami Herald's Tropic Magazine.
448
00:22:17,685 --> 00:22:19,856
The title was Poisoned Justice,
449
00:22:19,856 --> 00:22:22,200
which I've always thought
was a perfect title for this.
450
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:23,921
Poisoned Justice.
451
00:22:23,921 --> 00:22:27,114
- I knew about this having
read the Tropic article
452
00:22:27,114 --> 00:22:31,503
and I think there were
a great number of folks,
453
00:22:31,503 --> 00:22:33,263
probably outside of Arcadia,
454
00:22:33,263 --> 00:22:34,738
who once they read the article kind of
455
00:22:34,738 --> 00:22:38,190
realized this man probably got a raw deal.
456
00:22:38,190 --> 00:22:41,694
- We covered that thing
well over a year or so.
457
00:22:41,694 --> 00:22:42,836
It floated around out there
458
00:22:42,836 --> 00:22:45,605
and no matter how much evidence
459
00:22:45,605 --> 00:22:47,054
we could drum up to show
460
00:22:47,054 --> 00:22:49,432
that this was what was going on,
461
00:22:49,432 --> 00:22:52,349
the Arcadia syndrome still kept on.
462
00:22:56,193 --> 00:22:57,026
- This is an election year,
463
00:22:57,026 --> 00:22:59,668
and I don't want to get involved.
464
00:22:59,668 --> 00:23:01,751
(static)
465
00:23:10,884 --> 00:23:12,374
- [Newscaster] James Joseph Richardson
466
00:23:12,374 --> 00:23:14,177
has spent these last 21 years
467
00:23:14,177 --> 00:23:17,212
locked up for killing his own kids,
468
00:23:17,212 --> 00:23:19,289
but now his lawyers say
there is information
469
00:23:19,289 --> 00:23:21,728
newly available to them.
470
00:23:21,728 --> 00:23:25,547
(gentle instrumental music)
471
00:23:25,547 --> 00:23:27,904
- [Tim] The Assistant State
Attorney Reg Treadwell,
472
00:23:27,904 --> 00:23:30,565
who was an assistant to Frank Schaub,
473
00:23:30,565 --> 00:23:32,525
had some evidence that was,
474
00:23:32,525 --> 00:23:34,728
it was withheld from the defense.
475
00:23:34,728 --> 00:23:38,811
- He had em in a big box
in a drawer in his desk.
476
00:23:39,983 --> 00:23:41,108
- [Tim] I believe he was getting ready
477
00:23:41,108 --> 00:23:42,055
to throw the evidence out
478
00:23:42,055 --> 00:23:45,468
and his secretary knew
what that box contained
479
00:23:45,468 --> 00:23:49,948
and she gave a key to her
boyfriend, I believe, at the time.
480
00:23:49,948 --> 00:23:51,241
- Remus Griffin.
481
00:23:51,241 --> 00:23:52,463
He's from a wealthy family,
482
00:23:52,463 --> 00:23:54,461
so he didn't really have to work.
483
00:23:54,461 --> 00:23:56,895
He'd been in and out of
jail on minor things,
484
00:23:56,895 --> 00:24:00,132
and had skills to be a thief, a burglar.
485
00:24:00,132 --> 00:24:03,382
He broke in there and grabbed that box,
486
00:24:04,849 --> 00:24:07,358
took it home and started
looking through it.
487
00:24:07,358 --> 00:24:09,029
- To me, it would be no different
488
00:24:09,029 --> 00:24:12,272
than turning in a lost set of car keys,
489
00:24:12,272 --> 00:24:15,579
a lost wallet or helping
someone change a flat tire
490
00:24:15,579 --> 00:24:17,460
or holding a door open for someone.
491
00:24:17,460 --> 00:24:20,710
It was just, to me, it was no big deal.
492
00:24:22,729 --> 00:24:23,586
- [Peter] These were depositions
493
00:24:23,586 --> 00:24:26,753
that they never showed the other side,
494
00:24:27,702 --> 00:24:30,435
notes from the grand jury proceedings,
495
00:24:30,435 --> 00:24:32,606
all kinds of different things.
496
00:24:32,606 --> 00:24:34,338
- [Tim] I believe it was passed around.
497
00:24:34,338 --> 00:24:38,458
Mark Lane, a lawyer and
journalist, found out about it.
498
00:24:38,458 --> 00:24:42,055
- The file's amazing, it's
the anatomy of the frame-up.
499
00:24:42,055 --> 00:24:46,222
It shows how Cline, Schaub,
and Treadwell together
500
00:24:47,397 --> 00:24:49,970
manipulated the evidence and the facts
501
00:24:49,970 --> 00:24:51,876
to frame a man they knew to be innocent.
502
00:24:51,876 --> 00:24:54,629
- [Peter] Yeah, he wrote the
book, Arcadia about the case.
503
00:24:54,629 --> 00:24:56,477
- [Tim] The story of the case
504
00:24:56,477 --> 00:24:58,240
and what happened in that time.
505
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:00,466
- [Peter] And he wanted to
become Richardson's attorney.
506
00:25:00,466 --> 00:25:02,065
- It's a good thing to put a man
507
00:25:02,065 --> 00:25:05,078
in prison for murder, if he's guilty.
508
00:25:05,078 --> 00:25:07,914
In this case, sheriff
Cline got the wrong man.
509
00:25:07,914 --> 00:25:10,123
(cheering and applauding)
510
00:25:10,123 --> 00:25:13,956
- But Ellis Reuben, from
Miami, took the case.
511
00:25:16,154 --> 00:25:19,467
- Both of these gentlemen
never met a camera
512
00:25:19,467 --> 00:25:21,746
or a microphone they didn't like.
513
00:25:21,746 --> 00:25:24,842
- Would you ever handle a case
that wasn't high publicity?
514
00:25:24,842 --> 00:25:29,009
- Sandy, I handle about
200 cases at any one time.
515
00:25:29,932 --> 00:25:32,646
You only hear about three or four.
516
00:25:32,646 --> 00:25:34,682
- [Tim] Anyways, Lane
eventually got the evidence
517
00:25:34,682 --> 00:25:36,765
to the governor's office.
518
00:25:39,271 --> 00:25:41,864
- [Peter] It wasn't long after that,
519
00:25:41,864 --> 00:25:46,031
the governor announced that he
wanted to look into the case.
520
00:25:47,017 --> 00:25:49,017
- There were seven deaths
and we can't forget that,
521
00:25:49,017 --> 00:25:53,438
seven little ones died and
someone was found guilty.
522
00:25:53,438 --> 00:25:55,242
If there was a wrongdoing at that time,
523
00:25:55,242 --> 00:25:57,457
we would like to know about it.
524
00:25:57,457 --> 00:25:59,540
Justice ought to prevail.
525
00:26:02,339 --> 00:26:04,308
- [Tim] The governor, who
was Bob Martinez at the time,
526
00:26:04,308 --> 00:26:06,596
appointed Janet Reno, who at that time
527
00:26:06,596 --> 00:26:09,476
was the Miami-Dade state's attorney.
528
00:26:09,476 --> 00:26:11,041
She was given that power to investigate
529
00:26:11,041 --> 00:26:12,592
and find out if he, in fact,
530
00:26:12,592 --> 00:26:16,307
was given a fair trial
and the story behind it.
531
00:26:16,307 --> 00:26:20,109
- She was the special prosecuting attorney
532
00:26:20,109 --> 00:26:22,377
and so, she was able walk right
into the Arcadia Courthouse
533
00:26:22,377 --> 00:26:24,318
and say, give me everything on Richardson
534
00:26:24,318 --> 00:26:27,459
they could not hold anything back.
535
00:26:27,459 --> 00:26:29,366
- As a prosecutor in Dade County,
536
00:26:29,366 --> 00:26:32,366
I can be sure of guilt to the extent
537
00:26:33,587 --> 00:26:34,709
that a human being can be.
538
00:26:34,709 --> 00:26:35,968
I can make sure that it was not
539
00:26:35,968 --> 00:26:38,916
discriminatorily applied in any way.
540
00:26:38,916 --> 00:26:41,361
I can try to do everything
I could to make sure
541
00:26:41,361 --> 00:26:44,406
that due process was fully adhered to
542
00:26:44,406 --> 00:26:46,961
and that there are things
that my government does
543
00:26:46,961 --> 00:26:49,171
that I sometimes do not agree with.
544
00:26:49,171 --> 00:26:51,320
- [Tim] And her assistant Don Horn.
545
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,237
- I guess I became the
lead grunt worker on it,
546
00:26:56,915 --> 00:27:01,349
so trips back and forth to
Arcadia to speak with witnesses,
547
00:27:01,349 --> 00:27:05,524
to meet witnesses, to find other evidence.
548
00:27:05,524 --> 00:27:09,535
- And investigating, following
the sheriff's investigation,
549
00:27:09,535 --> 00:27:12,217
they went through and the
witnesses they could interview,
550
00:27:12,217 --> 00:27:15,846
come to find out and believe
that the charges were false,
551
00:27:15,846 --> 00:27:17,886
that they were the jailhouse confession
552
00:27:17,886 --> 00:27:19,825
that James is accused of confessing
553
00:27:19,825 --> 00:27:21,303
to several inmates in jail
554
00:27:21,303 --> 00:27:23,614
that he had killed his kids.
555
00:27:23,614 --> 00:27:26,682
Those people were shown
to have been prompted
556
00:27:26,682 --> 00:27:27,603
by the sheriff.
557
00:27:27,603 --> 00:27:30,143
- There was sufficient
information in there
558
00:27:30,143 --> 00:27:33,849
that said to us, yes,
this is disconcerting,
559
00:27:33,849 --> 00:27:36,835
yes, it's apparent to us
in what we've reviewed
560
00:27:36,835 --> 00:27:38,746
that he did not get a fair trial,
561
00:27:38,746 --> 00:27:41,547
in large part because of
what the state did and yes,
562
00:27:41,547 --> 00:27:46,149
we think this is sufficient
to get this before the court.
563
00:27:46,149 --> 00:27:49,566
- [Tim] So they had a hearing in Arcadia.
564
00:27:54,087 --> 00:27:55,011
- [Reporter] Mr. Schaub,
why did you decide
565
00:27:55,011 --> 00:27:56,566
to prosecute this case?
566
00:27:56,566 --> 00:27:57,399
- [Frank] When?
567
00:27:57,399 --> 00:27:58,232
- [Reporter] Why?
568
00:27:58,232 --> 00:27:59,943
- Because the man is obviously guilty.
569
00:27:59,943 --> 00:28:04,460
- [Peter] It just, it
was a gripping situation,
570
00:28:04,460 --> 00:28:07,054
it was torn between
the old days of Arcadia
571
00:28:07,054 --> 00:28:09,038
and the new days that were coming in.
572
00:28:09,038 --> 00:28:10,538
- This case will illustrate
573
00:28:10,538 --> 00:28:13,371
what racism was in Florida in 1967
574
00:28:14,866 --> 00:28:18,788
and now we're going to
see what it is in 1989.
575
00:28:18,788 --> 00:28:21,274
- [Don] We went up there
and you had Frank Schaub,
576
00:28:21,274 --> 00:28:24,535
Treadwell, Ellis Reuben, Mark
Lane, Janet Reno, myself.
577
00:28:24,535 --> 00:28:26,523
- [Newscaster] Sympathies
in the packed courtroom.
578
00:28:26,523 --> 00:28:27,913
Famed defense attorney, author,
579
00:28:27,913 --> 00:28:29,365
and Kennedy assassination prober,
580
00:28:29,365 --> 00:28:32,793
Mark Lane minced no words in
condemning the prosecution
581
00:28:32,793 --> 00:28:35,054
in Richardson's 1968 murder trial.
582
00:28:35,054 --> 00:28:36,912
- That record presented to the jury
583
00:28:36,912 --> 00:28:40,066
and subsequently to the
highest court of the state
584
00:28:40,066 --> 00:28:43,620
was skewered at the
outset by the prosecutors
585
00:28:43,620 --> 00:28:45,750
and by those who work for them,
586
00:28:45,750 --> 00:28:48,679
including the sheriff of this county.
587
00:28:48,679 --> 00:28:52,391
- And so, Mr. Richardson's
there, his wife's there,
588
00:28:52,391 --> 00:28:53,767
and we're just standing around waiting
589
00:28:53,767 --> 00:28:55,431
to see what the judge is going to do.
590
00:28:55,431 --> 00:28:58,764
- It was a very, very gripping situation
591
00:29:00,995 --> 00:29:01,828
at the end there,
592
00:29:01,828 --> 00:29:04,321
he granted Richardson
his immediate freedom,
593
00:29:04,321 --> 00:29:06,088
let him walk right out of that courtroom.
594
00:29:06,088 --> 00:29:08,505
(applauding)
595
00:29:10,900 --> 00:29:13,310
And people were applauding.
596
00:29:13,310 --> 00:29:16,622
(crowd cheering)
597
00:29:16,622 --> 00:29:18,872
- [Woman] James Richardson.
598
00:29:20,874 --> 00:29:24,291
- I wanna thank you all for being with me
599
00:29:25,827 --> 00:29:29,327
and for feeling the need, feeling the love
600
00:29:30,216 --> 00:29:32,362
that we have shared towards one another.
601
00:29:32,362 --> 00:29:34,139
- Thank you, thank you.
602
00:29:34,139 --> 00:29:36,880
God bless every last one of you.
603
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:38,306
- [Peter] It's one of the biggest things
604
00:29:38,306 --> 00:29:40,952
that ever happened in Arcadia.
605
00:29:40,952 --> 00:29:42,495
He got in a car and left
606
00:29:42,495 --> 00:29:45,530
and didn't come back for
many, many, many, many years.
607
00:29:45,530 --> 00:29:49,197
(gentle instrumental music)
608
00:29:55,018 --> 00:29:56,386
- Thank God, I'm free.
609
00:29:56,386 --> 00:29:59,002
I don't have to worry
about that problem no more.
610
00:29:59,002 --> 00:30:00,978
It's all over.
611
00:30:00,978 --> 00:30:01,811
I'm so glad, yeah.
612
00:30:01,811 --> 00:30:05,311
(laughing and applauding)
613
00:30:06,958 --> 00:30:09,648
Yeah, man, I'm feeling good.
614
00:30:09,648 --> 00:30:12,317
- The greatest thing I
ever did as a lawyer,
615
00:30:12,317 --> 00:30:13,828
was as a prosecutor,
616
00:30:13,828 --> 00:30:17,412
get somebody out of
prison, Mr. Richardson.
617
00:30:17,412 --> 00:30:19,912
And so, that is, even 32 years
618
00:30:21,090 --> 00:30:22,560
I've been practicing now,
619
00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,184
the most significant accomplishment
620
00:30:25,184 --> 00:30:28,760
I have ever made, as an attorney.
621
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:33,152
- Richardson released:
"I feel fine.", he said.
622
00:30:33,152 --> 00:30:34,125
That is great.
623
00:30:34,125 --> 00:30:34,958
- [Newscaster] He looks better
624
00:30:34,958 --> 00:30:36,451
than we've ever seen him before,
625
00:30:36,451 --> 00:30:38,270
that's what a night of freedom will do.
626
00:30:38,270 --> 00:30:39,974
James Richardson told us this morning,
627
00:30:39,974 --> 00:30:42,699
he is thrilled now, to be a free man.
628
00:30:42,699 --> 00:30:45,582
- Well, at the time he was released,
629
00:30:45,582 --> 00:30:47,464
Mark Lane was his attorney.
630
00:30:47,464 --> 00:30:48,297
- [Newscaster] He spent this morning
631
00:30:48,297 --> 00:30:50,756
walking the beach at
Daytona, feeling the sand,
632
00:30:50,756 --> 00:30:52,191
seeing sights and hearing sounds
633
00:30:52,191 --> 00:30:54,221
he hasn't heard in 21 years.
634
00:30:54,221 --> 00:30:56,367
- [Peter] I know that Mark Lane
had him for a little while,
635
00:30:56,367 --> 00:30:58,955
they were gonna try to make him...
636
00:30:58,955 --> 00:31:00,069
what were they going to do, Charles?
637
00:31:00,069 --> 00:31:03,652
Make him shake people's
hands in Las Vegas?
638
00:31:05,171 --> 00:31:06,129
Yeah.
639
00:31:06,129 --> 00:31:07,695
- [Newscaster] Ironically,
Richardson has gone
640
00:31:07,695 --> 00:31:10,807
from life in prison to lifestyles
of the rich and famous,
641
00:31:10,807 --> 00:31:12,706
staying with Mark Lane,
one of his attorneys,
642
00:31:12,706 --> 00:31:15,460
in Lane's luxurious beachfront condo.
643
00:31:15,460 --> 00:31:17,676
- They took James to,
I believe to New York,
644
00:31:17,676 --> 00:31:18,509
he went to Chicago.
645
00:31:18,509 --> 00:31:20,471
He was supposedly on
the Oprah Winfrey Show
646
00:31:20,471 --> 00:31:22,554
back in the '80s.
647
00:31:22,554 --> 00:31:24,500
- I go to Chicago tonight or tomorrow?
648
00:31:24,500 --> 00:31:25,333
Tomorrow?
649
00:31:25,333 --> 00:31:27,583
Oh, wow, that will be good.
650
00:31:28,741 --> 00:31:30,906
And then where do we go from there?
651
00:31:30,906 --> 00:31:34,516
It was a little bit exciting for me.
652
00:31:34,516 --> 00:31:36,658
To be free again.
653
00:31:36,658 --> 00:31:40,784
And even though I will
never forget the tragedy,
654
00:31:40,784 --> 00:31:43,701
the heartaches, the troubled times,
655
00:31:45,008 --> 00:31:48,258
but I still hope for a better tomorrow.
656
00:31:50,966 --> 00:31:53,527
- He was on Inside Edition.
657
00:31:53,527 --> 00:31:56,550
He went to, I believe
New York, for Geraldo.
658
00:31:56,550 --> 00:31:58,744
- To hell and back is an expression
659
00:31:58,744 --> 00:32:01,647
that applies directly to our studio guest,
660
00:32:01,647 --> 00:32:03,719
an old friend James Richardson.
661
00:32:03,719 --> 00:32:05,302
How is life, James?
662
00:32:06,266 --> 00:32:07,457
How are you getting along?
663
00:32:07,457 --> 00:32:09,957
- Life is wonderful and sweet.
664
00:32:11,755 --> 00:32:13,718
- [Geraldo] What are doing these days?
665
00:32:13,718 --> 00:32:17,301
- Today, I sit back,
look at the television
666
00:32:18,688 --> 00:32:21,771
and I entertain my wife, my new wife.
667
00:32:23,684 --> 00:32:25,897
We were married just a few weeks ago.
668
00:32:25,897 --> 00:32:26,730
- [Geraldo] Congratulations.
669
00:32:26,730 --> 00:32:28,937
- She is very wonderful to
me and she's helping me.
670
00:32:28,937 --> 00:32:31,354
(applauding)
671
00:32:35,678 --> 00:32:37,832
- [Tim] And there was always a
movie deal around the corner.
672
00:32:37,832 --> 00:32:39,767
It was always, we're working on it, James,
673
00:32:39,767 --> 00:32:42,203
we've got, we're in talks
with Louis Gossett Jr.
674
00:32:42,203 --> 00:32:46,423
to play you and all this stuff
and they fed him that line,
675
00:32:46,423 --> 00:32:48,756
I don't know how many times.
676
00:32:50,906 --> 00:32:53,075
- [James] They had keep me on the move,
677
00:32:53,075 --> 00:32:56,575
they kept me on the go, from town to town.
678
00:32:57,890 --> 00:33:00,702
- I don't believe he was paid.
679
00:33:00,702 --> 00:33:03,266
There's different views
on that, but he wasn't,
680
00:33:03,266 --> 00:33:04,464
he didn't see any money.
681
00:33:04,464 --> 00:33:08,754
- [Peter] And nothing ever
happened, no book, no movies.
682
00:33:08,754 --> 00:33:12,954
- Didn't have a house when
I got out, they promised me
683
00:33:12,954 --> 00:33:16,604
that they were going to
do so much and things.
684
00:33:16,604 --> 00:33:19,272
- When he got out of
prison, he had nothing,
685
00:33:19,272 --> 00:33:21,673
he had zero, you know.
686
00:33:21,673 --> 00:33:25,006
Might of had two dollars in his canteen.
687
00:33:26,188 --> 00:33:29,548
- Everybody even under
the best of circumstances
688
00:33:29,548 --> 00:33:31,127
with the most supportive family
689
00:33:31,127 --> 00:33:33,068
and even with some kind of compensation
690
00:33:33,068 --> 00:33:36,318
is gonna have difficulty reintegrating.
691
00:33:37,704 --> 00:33:39,074
All your loved ones and family,
692
00:33:39,074 --> 00:33:40,837
they've moved on with their lives,
693
00:33:40,837 --> 00:33:42,811
it's very hard to fit back in.
694
00:33:42,811 --> 00:33:46,797
You've lost so much,
it's almost incalculable.
695
00:33:46,797 --> 00:33:49,442
- [James] They treated
me like I wasn't nobody,
696
00:33:49,442 --> 00:33:51,859
giving me nothing to live on,
697
00:33:52,746 --> 00:33:56,884
they give me nothing
to provide for myself.
698
00:33:56,884 --> 00:34:00,801
I was just out there, in
the world, just alone.
699
00:34:03,247 --> 00:34:05,183
- And so, he left and
went back to Jacksonville
700
00:34:05,183 --> 00:34:08,180
and that's when my dad would would go up
701
00:34:08,180 --> 00:34:09,760
and see him on a regular basis
702
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,318
and of course, he didn't have any money.
703
00:34:12,318 --> 00:34:14,512
- [Peter] Jim Edmonds, he's
a very, very, very good man
704
00:34:14,512 --> 00:34:18,291
and he met James Richardson
through the chaplain
705
00:34:18,291 --> 00:34:19,966
there at the prison.
706
00:34:19,966 --> 00:34:21,842
- After my father passed away,
707
00:34:21,842 --> 00:34:24,856
James asked me if we could help him,
708
00:34:24,856 --> 00:34:28,236
you know, with rent
money, things like that.
709
00:34:28,236 --> 00:34:29,976
- [Peter] The Edman's family
710
00:34:29,976 --> 00:34:33,393
has provided refuge for James Richardson.
711
00:34:36,384 --> 00:34:41,112
- They help me with my rent,
help me with the groceries,
712
00:34:41,112 --> 00:34:44,362
and they help buy me shoes and clothes.
713
00:34:45,871 --> 00:34:48,199
- And that's what goes on to this day.
714
00:34:48,199 --> 00:34:51,071
Without us, I don't know
what he would have done,
715
00:34:51,071 --> 00:34:54,404
he would have been on public assistance,
716
00:34:55,282 --> 00:34:57,032
and that's not right.
717
00:34:58,289 --> 00:35:01,326
- When people leave
jail, it is usually said
718
00:35:01,326 --> 00:35:04,381
that they have paid their debt to society,
719
00:35:04,381 --> 00:35:07,273
but in this case, how on earth can society
720
00:35:07,273 --> 00:35:10,072
pay its debt to James Richardson,
721
00:35:10,072 --> 00:35:12,965
for 20 years of anguish and pain?
722
00:35:12,965 --> 00:35:14,463
(applauding)
723
00:35:14,463 --> 00:35:17,571
- Yes, my question I would
like to ask to James,
724
00:35:17,571 --> 00:35:20,045
obviously, the state
spent a great deal of time
725
00:35:20,045 --> 00:35:22,078
and monies to keep you in prison,
726
00:35:22,078 --> 00:35:23,249
and feed you and all that sort of stuff,
727
00:35:23,249 --> 00:35:25,459
which is not very happy being in prison,
728
00:35:25,459 --> 00:35:27,971
basically, is there any
type of compensation
729
00:35:27,971 --> 00:35:30,565
or restitution that you are receiving?
730
00:35:30,565 --> 00:35:32,198
- Is there any compensation, James?
731
00:35:32,198 --> 00:35:34,048
Do you have a lawsuit, for instance?
732
00:35:34,048 --> 00:35:35,306
- Yes, I have a lawsuit.
733
00:35:35,306 --> 00:35:36,520
- [Geraldo] And how is that going?
734
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:38,579
Have you filed it?
735
00:35:38,579 --> 00:35:41,484
- We are still working on that case,
736
00:35:41,484 --> 00:35:44,151
suing the state for $35 million.
737
00:35:45,322 --> 00:35:48,250
- [Tim] Lane had different
attempts to get him
738
00:35:48,250 --> 00:35:50,411
compensation through lawsuits
against the state of Florida
739
00:35:50,411 --> 00:35:53,637
and against the prosecutor and I believe,
740
00:35:53,637 --> 00:35:56,486
none of that ever came to any fruition.
741
00:35:56,486 --> 00:35:59,986
(soft instrumental music)
742
00:36:07,226 --> 00:36:09,099
The Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Act
743
00:36:09,099 --> 00:36:11,695
is what they came up with.
744
00:36:11,695 --> 00:36:13,328
And James was the first person to apply
745
00:36:13,328 --> 00:36:15,753
under that act in the state of Florida.
746
00:36:15,753 --> 00:36:18,052
- So one of the
requirements of the statute
747
00:36:18,052 --> 00:36:21,396
that got passed is that you've
got to have clean hands,
748
00:36:21,396 --> 00:36:24,300
so you still could not have
committed any other felonies,
749
00:36:24,300 --> 00:36:25,491
so it's not just, I didn't do this,
750
00:36:25,491 --> 00:36:27,394
but do you clean hands, okay?
751
00:36:27,394 --> 00:36:30,232
And he did, no other charges, whatever,
752
00:36:30,232 --> 00:36:34,399
but you have to prove that the
person is actually innocent.
753
00:36:38,613 --> 00:36:41,978
- So it's on the person who
is wrongfully incarcerated
754
00:36:41,978 --> 00:36:43,207
to prove that they were innocent.
755
00:36:43,207 --> 00:36:44,977
The state doesn't have to do anything,
756
00:36:44,977 --> 00:36:47,060
but sit there and say no.
757
00:36:49,564 --> 00:36:52,905
- The statute requires DNA evidence.
758
00:36:52,905 --> 00:36:55,905
Mr. Richardson was convicted in 1968
759
00:36:57,094 --> 00:37:00,591
and so that science,
that forensic evidence,
760
00:37:00,591 --> 00:37:04,418
was not in, in wide use at the time.
761
00:37:04,418 --> 00:37:06,716
- [Don] I can't prove he's innocent
762
00:37:06,716 --> 00:37:10,785
because you've got missing
evidence, dead witnesses.
763
00:37:10,785 --> 00:37:14,952
- Our findings are that he was
probably wrongfully accused.
764
00:37:16,457 --> 00:37:19,323
We will never be able to
prove him innocent beyond
765
00:37:19,323 --> 00:37:21,552
and to the exclusion of reasonable doubt,
766
00:37:21,552 --> 00:37:25,438
because of the totally
inadequate investigation.
767
00:37:25,438 --> 00:37:27,446
- I just sometimes think that the state,
768
00:37:27,446 --> 00:37:29,521
the state sees these individuals
769
00:37:29,521 --> 00:37:32,717
that have been convicted and imprisoned,
770
00:37:32,717 --> 00:37:34,360
they don't look at them as human,
771
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:35,989
even when they've done their time,
772
00:37:35,989 --> 00:37:38,232
they've served their sentences,
they've served their parole.
773
00:37:38,232 --> 00:37:41,920
You still have to apply to the governor
774
00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:44,337
to get your civil rights reinstated,
775
00:37:44,337 --> 00:37:46,597
your right to vote, it's not automatic,
776
00:37:46,597 --> 00:37:49,227
you have to go through
a government bureaucracy
777
00:37:49,227 --> 00:37:52,225
for them to give you
the right to vote back.
778
00:37:52,225 --> 00:37:54,765
Why isn't that automatic?
779
00:37:54,765 --> 00:37:57,397
You've paid your debt to society,
780
00:37:57,397 --> 00:38:00,564
but society continues to make you pay.
781
00:38:04,126 --> 00:38:06,348
That's not right.
782
00:38:06,348 --> 00:38:07,181
(engine running)
783
00:38:11,210 --> 00:38:14,877
(gentle instrumental music)
784
00:38:17,653 --> 00:38:21,293
- It was only because he
could not produce DNA evidence
785
00:38:21,293 --> 00:38:23,789
and he did not have a trial,
786
00:38:23,789 --> 00:38:27,593
a new trial, that he was ineligible.
787
00:38:27,593 --> 00:38:32,586
- So my bill says that when
those elements are present,
788
00:38:32,586 --> 00:38:36,554
then, and especially if you
were convicted prior to 1980,
789
00:38:36,554 --> 00:38:40,401
then you would qualify
to apply for compensation
790
00:38:40,401 --> 00:38:43,942
under Florida's Wrongful
Incarceration Statute.
791
00:38:43,942 --> 00:38:45,901
- And that's how they tailored it,
792
00:38:45,901 --> 00:38:48,007
in order for him to be compensated.
793
00:38:48,007 --> 00:38:51,674
(gentle instrumental music)
794
00:38:58,350 --> 00:39:02,918
I want him to have, you know,
a decent home to live in,
795
00:39:02,918 --> 00:39:06,116
a decent car to drive and
where he can go to the store
796
00:39:06,116 --> 00:39:08,416
and buy the groceries he wants
797
00:39:08,416 --> 00:39:11,041
and basically to live out
whatever time he's got left
798
00:39:11,041 --> 00:39:13,388
in some degree of comfort.
799
00:39:13,388 --> 00:39:17,555
- It will be the final chapter
in putting it behind him,
800
00:39:19,193 --> 00:39:21,110
at the community level.
801
00:39:22,114 --> 00:39:26,281
Finally someone recognizing
the injustice that occurred.
802
00:39:28,134 --> 00:39:32,301
It will be the demarcation
of past moving forward.
803
00:39:33,841 --> 00:39:34,771
- This can be done.
804
00:39:34,771 --> 00:39:36,899
It may not be done tomorrow,
805
00:39:36,899 --> 00:39:40,066
but we eventually will reach the goal,
806
00:39:40,971 --> 00:39:43,899
and that is to get him compensated.
807
00:39:43,899 --> 00:39:46,474
- This is an opportunity to right
808
00:39:46,474 --> 00:39:50,633
a racial injustice that
occurred in the state of Florida
809
00:39:50,633 --> 00:39:54,800
and this gives Florida an
opportunity to make amends,
810
00:39:56,201 --> 00:39:57,265
if you will.
811
00:39:57,265 --> 00:40:00,848
And I think that this
is the time to do it.
812
00:40:03,049 --> 00:40:04,381
- [Man] Jackson Memorial Hospital
813
00:40:04,381 --> 00:40:06,684
and the work that they get done
814
00:40:06,684 --> 00:40:07,517
and the work that they--
815
00:40:07,517 --> 00:40:08,350
(indistinct chatter)
816
00:40:10,535 --> 00:40:13,800
There are three central,
there are three hospitals
817
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,300
in the Jackson, in Miami-Dade.
818
00:40:17,819 --> 00:40:19,539
- He's here with us in the West Gallery,
819
00:40:19,539 --> 00:40:21,274
he is a study in kindness,
820
00:40:21,274 --> 00:40:24,298
in perseverance and in humility.
821
00:40:24,298 --> 00:40:26,378
We are proud to introduce to this chamber,
822
00:40:26,378 --> 00:40:28,133
Mr. James Joseph Richardson.
823
00:40:28,133 --> 00:40:28,966
- [Tim] I don't think everybody voted,
824
00:40:28,966 --> 00:40:33,805
(applauding)
but there was no opposition.
825
00:40:33,805 --> 00:40:37,122
- After 21 years in prison,
that he didn't deserve,
826
00:40:37,122 --> 00:40:39,559
we've come together as a
legislature to recognize
827
00:40:39,559 --> 00:40:41,138
that something very bad happened
828
00:40:41,138 --> 00:40:42,701
in the history of the state of Florida
829
00:40:42,701 --> 00:40:44,945
and we're very proud to help him move on
830
00:40:44,945 --> 00:40:46,410
and have Florida turn the corner
831
00:40:46,410 --> 00:40:47,988
on that dark page in history.
832
00:40:47,988 --> 00:40:49,290
(applauding)
833
00:40:49,290 --> 00:40:52,022
- The state basically gave him an apology,
834
00:40:52,022 --> 00:40:54,581
from the floor of the House
and the floor of the Senate.
835
00:40:54,581 --> 00:40:56,491
- You honor us with your presence,
836
00:40:56,491 --> 00:40:57,759
but the pain and the suffering
837
00:40:57,759 --> 00:41:00,706
that you must've gone
through is unimaginable.
838
00:41:00,706 --> 00:41:01,932
But we're happy to be here today
839
00:41:01,932 --> 00:41:03,907
at the end of our session having brought
840
00:41:03,907 --> 00:41:06,373
just a little bit of
justice back to you, sir.
841
00:41:06,373 --> 00:41:07,902
We welcome you back to Florida,
842
00:41:07,902 --> 00:41:09,890
we thank you for being here today.
843
00:41:09,890 --> 00:41:14,057
- I felt very proud and I
felt a little warmness in me.
844
00:41:19,610 --> 00:41:23,178
And I was surprised to hear them say,
845
00:41:23,178 --> 00:41:27,261
we gonna help this man
because he was mistreated.
846
00:41:29,605 --> 00:41:31,854
- I think it'll be, for him,
847
00:41:31,854 --> 00:41:35,260
it'll be a lot of weight
off his shoulders,
848
00:41:35,260 --> 00:41:39,994
'cause you can tell he still
is stressed, to this day.
849
00:41:39,994 --> 00:41:43,353
- [Peter] He's got money to live off of.
850
00:41:43,353 --> 00:41:48,270
He's got something to have a
dignified rest of his life.
851
00:41:48,270 --> 00:41:51,437
- Got a chance to maybe get me a home.
852
00:41:54,404 --> 00:41:55,987
I want me a church.
853
00:41:57,161 --> 00:42:00,828
(gentle instrumental music)
854
00:42:11,375 --> 00:42:15,572
- This is not a guarantee of compensation
855
00:42:15,572 --> 00:42:19,841
for Mr. Richardson, it
is an opportunity for him
856
00:42:19,841 --> 00:42:22,674
to apply and then once he applies,
857
00:42:23,660 --> 00:42:26,857
then he would be eligible for $50 thousand
858
00:42:26,857 --> 00:42:31,790
for every one of the 21
years that he was in prison.
859
00:42:31,790 --> 00:42:36,441
- I don't feel like it's
going to be enough anyway.
860
00:42:36,441 --> 00:42:40,025
I've got to pay my lawyer, I've
got to pay my doctor bills,
861
00:42:40,025 --> 00:42:43,442
I owe $27 thousand in my medical, doctors
862
00:42:44,597 --> 00:42:46,872
and things like that.
863
00:42:46,872 --> 00:42:50,039
And I'm having a painful feeling about
864
00:42:51,159 --> 00:42:53,447
how I'm gonna pay all of these people
865
00:42:53,447 --> 00:42:55,614
and what I will have left.
866
00:42:57,007 --> 00:43:01,007
I know there ain't enough
money to buy a church.
867
00:43:01,941 --> 00:43:04,485
- That money has got to last
him the rest of his life,
868
00:43:04,485 --> 00:43:07,543
because he has to sign a release saying,
869
00:43:07,543 --> 00:43:09,386
that neither you nor your wife
870
00:43:09,386 --> 00:43:13,351
nor your relative, anybody,
can ever sue the state
871
00:43:13,351 --> 00:43:16,333
or ask for compensation
on this matter again.
872
00:43:16,333 --> 00:43:18,522
Period, this is it.
873
00:43:18,522 --> 00:43:22,073
- This money is not for me to say,
874
00:43:22,073 --> 00:43:25,470
that it will make me feel happy
875
00:43:25,470 --> 00:43:26,753
because there ain't nothing in the world
876
00:43:26,753 --> 00:43:29,047
that can make me feel happy,
877
00:43:29,047 --> 00:43:31,701
unless they can give me
back what I have lost.
878
00:43:31,701 --> 00:43:35,368
(gentle instrumental music)
879
00:43:37,866 --> 00:43:40,200
- Anyone that read Janet Reno's report
880
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:42,716
would just be shocked at how this happened
881
00:43:42,716 --> 00:43:45,724
and wonder, how come some of these people
882
00:43:45,724 --> 00:43:47,909
that did this, that hid this evidence
883
00:43:47,909 --> 00:43:50,909
and did all this stuff,
why weren't they arrested?
884
00:43:50,909 --> 00:43:52,944
Why weren't they brought to justice?
885
00:43:52,944 --> 00:43:57,111
How come they didn't arrest
Frank Schaub or Frank Cline?
886
00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:04,087
- Richard Bernard says that
you framed James Richardson.
887
00:44:05,496 --> 00:44:07,928
- So do the attorneys.
888
00:44:07,928 --> 00:44:09,098
Of course, the facts don't
bear that out, do they?
889
00:44:09,098 --> 00:44:12,186
- But the attorneys were not
the chief of police of Arcadia.
890
00:44:12,186 --> 00:44:13,391
- No.
891
00:44:13,391 --> 00:44:14,932
- Did you frame him?
- No.
892
00:44:14,932 --> 00:44:17,939
- It was a horrible travesty and again,
893
00:44:17,939 --> 00:44:22,413
I know I've said this
before, it pains me more,
894
00:44:22,413 --> 00:44:25,580
because it was committed in large part
895
00:44:26,552 --> 00:44:29,719
by the prosecution and the prosecutor.
896
00:44:31,052 --> 00:44:32,592
- What is it that really
clinched this case?
897
00:44:32,592 --> 00:44:34,600
You said it was a strong case.
898
00:44:34,600 --> 00:44:37,875
- That he had motive,
that he had opportunity
899
00:44:37,875 --> 00:44:41,434
and most of all we prove
pretty conclusively
900
00:44:41,434 --> 00:44:43,057
that each of these
children had been poisoned
901
00:44:43,057 --> 00:44:46,190
by Parathion that had
been seeded in their food.
902
00:44:46,190 --> 00:44:47,414
- But anybody could've done that.
903
00:44:47,414 --> 00:44:48,247
I mean, just about about anybody--
904
00:44:48,247 --> 00:44:51,413
- No, not nobody except him.
905
00:44:51,413 --> 00:44:54,609
He was the one that was there.
906
00:44:54,609 --> 00:44:57,411
- [Peter] You get public
servants that steal money,
907
00:44:57,411 --> 00:45:00,487
but public servants that
steal people's lives
908
00:45:00,487 --> 00:45:02,654
and their time, like that.
909
00:45:04,786 --> 00:45:07,095
It's too bad that they weren't,
910
00:45:07,095 --> 00:45:09,767
that they didn't have to
spend the time in jail,
911
00:45:09,767 --> 00:45:11,767
as far as I'm concerned.
912
00:45:13,247 --> 00:45:17,384
- Well, I know legally
for us as prosecutors,
913
00:45:17,384 --> 00:45:21,551
we can make mistakes, the
law says we get immunity.
914
00:45:23,689 --> 00:45:26,409
- You can't bring a federal
civil rights criminal case,
915
00:45:26,409 --> 00:45:27,993
ordinarily, against people because
916
00:45:27,993 --> 00:45:31,654
there's a five-year
statute of limitations.
917
00:45:31,654 --> 00:45:34,507
The statute of limitations
have run in most states
918
00:45:34,507 --> 00:45:38,240
for the criminal conduct
that convicted an innocent
919
00:45:38,240 --> 00:45:41,504
when we find out about it 10,
20, 30 years later, right.
920
00:45:41,504 --> 00:45:45,671
And that's many of our cases,
10, 20, 30 years later.
921
00:45:47,827 --> 00:45:50,538
- I don't even know how you prove
922
00:45:50,538 --> 00:45:54,038
that someone acted with intentional malice
923
00:45:55,845 --> 00:45:58,519
and I'm viewing this as,
I know you didn't do it,
924
00:45:58,519 --> 00:46:01,102
but I'm going after you anyway.
925
00:46:02,428 --> 00:46:05,382
- The state is the one that needs to say,
926
00:46:05,382 --> 00:46:08,731
the person we put in that
position of power was wrong
927
00:46:08,731 --> 00:46:12,898
and yet, the state wouldn't
even want to acknowledge that.
928
00:46:14,432 --> 00:46:16,108
- Should Mr. Schaub have been disbarred?
929
00:46:16,108 --> 00:46:17,828
I don't know.
930
00:46:17,828 --> 00:46:21,995
I don't know that there was
intentional knowing conduct,
931
00:46:24,437 --> 00:46:29,384
it's clear that the decision
to go forward on this case,
932
00:46:29,384 --> 00:46:31,227
in hindsight, with the information
933
00:46:31,227 --> 00:46:34,697
that they had in their file
21 years later, was clear.
934
00:46:34,697 --> 00:46:37,186
- It was a tragic time,
the children were dying,
935
00:46:37,186 --> 00:46:38,960
one right after another,
936
00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:42,277
and we didn't know what the reason was.
937
00:46:42,277 --> 00:46:44,300
He gave us no information
that could help us
938
00:46:44,300 --> 00:46:47,758
in any way determine what it was
939
00:46:47,758 --> 00:46:51,091
and he seemed to be conveniently absent.
940
00:46:53,238 --> 00:46:54,987
- So, I think an apology from the people
941
00:46:54,987 --> 00:46:57,820
who did this would have been nice.
942
00:47:01,493 --> 00:47:03,554
That can't happen because they're gone.
943
00:47:03,554 --> 00:47:06,471
(soft piano music)
944
00:47:20,484 --> 00:47:21,931
- Was it intentional we're gonna go
945
00:47:21,931 --> 00:47:23,715
and we're gonna get
James Joseph Richardson
946
00:47:23,715 --> 00:47:24,690
if it's the last thing we do?
947
00:47:24,690 --> 00:47:27,709
I think it's a situation where early on,
948
00:47:27,709 --> 00:47:30,242
Sheriff Cline got put in a position
949
00:47:30,242 --> 00:47:32,541
where you got all this media attention,
950
00:47:32,541 --> 00:47:35,776
everybody is upset, you've
got seven dead children.
951
00:47:35,776 --> 00:47:39,766
We gotta do something and
somebody's got to be arrested.
952
00:47:39,766 --> 00:47:41,523
- [Peter] Sometimes I think that winning
953
00:47:41,523 --> 00:47:44,440
becomes more important than justice
954
00:47:47,065 --> 00:47:51,065
and cognitively people
can get into that mindset
955
00:47:52,181 --> 00:47:54,966
and it's very unfortunate.
956
00:47:54,966 --> 00:47:56,734
- [Interviewer] Were you framed, James?
957
00:47:56,734 --> 00:47:59,970
- [James] Yes, I was and I think
958
00:47:59,970 --> 00:48:03,757
that sheriff did that for a reputation.
959
00:48:03,757 --> 00:48:06,257
He did it to build himself up.
960
00:48:07,619 --> 00:48:12,019
- I wish they had done
something different in 1967
961
00:48:12,019 --> 00:48:14,521
and James Richardson would
have gone through life
962
00:48:14,521 --> 00:48:17,949
as just an anonymous
guy like the rest of us.
963
00:48:17,949 --> 00:48:20,782
Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
964
00:48:23,100 --> 00:48:25,742
- [Peter] The South is a
beautiful, beautiful place,
965
00:48:25,742 --> 00:48:28,827
it's a very interesting
part of the United States.
966
00:48:28,827 --> 00:48:30,910
But there's a lot of colorful characters
967
00:48:30,910 --> 00:48:32,993
and a lot of evil around.
968
00:48:36,394 --> 00:48:39,058
I don't know that something
like this could not happen again
969
00:48:39,058 --> 00:48:41,413
but this sort of sets a precedent
970
00:48:41,413 --> 00:48:44,080
for what will happen if it does.
971
00:48:45,856 --> 00:48:47,240
- It's always amazed me,
972
00:48:47,240 --> 00:48:52,160
every time we go through
the story of James's case,
973
00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:56,327
that I'm just amazed at
how a group of human beings
974
00:48:58,528 --> 00:49:02,123
can do that to another human being,
975
00:49:02,123 --> 00:49:06,206
to have such an impact on
almost his entire life.
976
00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:12,867
I can't fathom that.
977
00:49:14,721 --> 00:49:16,852
- And so yeah, we've got
to come to grips that,
978
00:49:16,852 --> 00:49:20,102
yeah, there was a wrongful prosecution,
979
00:49:21,897 --> 00:49:24,480
wrongful, probably, conviction,
980
00:49:26,474 --> 00:49:29,768
and when I see that as a prosecutor
981
00:49:29,768 --> 00:49:34,102
and I hope when the
other 330 odd prosecutors
982
00:49:34,102 --> 00:49:36,915
who work in this office
see stuff like that,
983
00:49:36,915 --> 00:49:40,750
it reminds them of the
importance of our oath
984
00:49:40,750 --> 00:49:42,892
and our duties and responsibilities
985
00:49:42,892 --> 00:49:46,566
to make sure that we are
following the evidence
986
00:49:46,566 --> 00:49:50,897
wherever it leads and that
we're making the right decision,
987
00:49:50,897 --> 00:49:53,673
again, for the right reason.
988
00:49:53,673 --> 00:49:57,756
Because, again, we have the
power to destroy people's lives.
989
00:49:57,756 --> 00:50:00,673
(soft piano music)
990
00:50:05,803 --> 00:50:09,834
- Racism takes a long,
long time to go away,
991
00:50:09,834 --> 00:50:13,984
it really does, a long,
long time to go away.
992
00:50:13,984 --> 00:50:16,292
The only thing that makes
it go away is generations
993
00:50:16,292 --> 00:50:19,852
and generations and generations, you know.
994
00:50:19,852 --> 00:50:22,552
And the number of people that were there
995
00:50:22,552 --> 00:50:25,148
on that day in 1967, of
course, have died off,
996
00:50:25,148 --> 00:50:28,404
quite a bit, that
remember that big, big day
997
00:50:28,404 --> 00:50:30,487
and all those ambulances,
998
00:50:32,411 --> 00:50:34,545
that horrible thing that
all these kids died,
999
00:50:34,545 --> 00:50:38,521
there are very few of
those people left anymore.
1000
00:50:38,521 --> 00:50:42,688
Pretty soon it'll just a be
a mark in a history book.
1001
00:50:43,895 --> 00:50:45,467
But that history book will also say
1002
00:50:45,467 --> 00:50:47,967
that Richardson was exonerated
1003
00:50:49,905 --> 00:50:54,417
and was paid X amount
of dollars by the state.
1004
00:50:54,417 --> 00:50:57,584
It clears his name and throws the onus
1005
00:50:58,559 --> 00:51:02,726
back on the government
that put him away, wrongly.
1006
00:51:07,604 --> 00:51:11,437
- I wish him well and I
hope he gets his money
1007
00:51:13,476 --> 00:51:16,279
soon enough to be able to use some of it,
1008
00:51:16,279 --> 00:51:20,033
to try and do some things to
enjoy what's left of his life.
1009
00:51:20,033 --> 00:51:23,116
(gentle piano music)
1010
00:51:51,132 --> 00:51:54,382
(dramatic piano music)
75244
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